CR-MOC: Airmen learn basics of contingency response

by Airman 1st Class Emily A. Bradley
36th Wing Public Affairs

5/13/2014 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam  -- Instructors from the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., trained more than two dozen 36th Contingency Response Group Airmen April 28 to May 9 here to prepare them for new roles in a contingency response unit.

The Center's Contingency Response Mission Orientation Course introduced the contingency response's mission and objectives to Airmen who recently joined the 36th CRG, while teaching basic skills to apply in expeditionary situations.

The Expeditionary Center sent instructors to Andersen for CR-MOC as opposed to flying all the course participants to N.J., saving the Air Force money.

"The (CRMOC) is mandatory for all personnel assigned to a Contingency Response Group and provides Airmen with a firm understanding of the 'Open the Airbase' mission," said Senior Master Sgt. Rick Marston, Mobility Operations School superintendent at the Expeditionary Center. "(The course) prepares them for rapid deployment and equips them with the basic expeditionary skills needed to function across the full spectrum of military operations and operating environments."

The course was established to familiarize and prepare each Airman over a two-week period to ensure individual and unit success, said Expeditionary Center officials. The teams work to finish a series of training elements to help each person transition into the fast-paced expeditionary lifestyle that comes with being assigned to the 36th CRG.

"I have been assigned here for four months and this course made it much easier to understand the CRG mission," said Staff Sgt. Anne Huckabee, 36th CRG unit training manager. "In exercises, you only get a small sense of what life is actually like down-range. This class really helped me see the big picture."

The 36th CRG is comprised of the 36th Mobility Response Squadron, the 554th RED HORSE Squadron, the 644th Combat Communications Squadron, and the 736th Security Forces Squadron. More than 30 specialties are incorporated into rapid-deployment unit that can provide initial Air Force presence potentially austere forward operation location as directed by the Pacific Air Force commander.

The 36th CRG has participated in various exercises, such as the annual Cope North multilateral exercise at Andersen, and responded to many real-world emergency missions like the Operation Damayan humanitarian relief effort conducted after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013.

"The most important part of being in a contingency response unit is being flexible and able to adapt," said Capt. David Bullock, former 36th CRG director of operations. "It is not practical to plan for all the unknowns out there, but we train to sustain a level of readiness that is scalar and adaptable to unknown environments and situations."